And he says that the 18-year-old’s return is ‘good news’ and a good development for his team as they continue their preparation for the U20 World Cup.

“Kelechi’s return is good news for us,” he said. “It is a good development for our team and it is something we are happy about because he is an important player for us.

“I am happy that he is back and his teammates are too, so we have to wait until he comes and then we take it up from there,” he posited.

The Manchester City starlet has suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury, which has kept him out of action for the better part of the year for City’s U18’s, but made an impressive goalscoring comeback in the FA Youth Cup final loss to Chelsea last weekend.

Asked if he isn’t concerned about Iheanacho’s overall fitness with the World Cup just around the corner, Manu had this to say.

“If he wasn’t fully fit he wouldn’t have played 90 minutes in a cup final. We still have to make our own assessments though and that can only be done when he comes,” he concluded.